Israel's south remains quiet. In Jerusalem a Palestinian terrorist staying in Israel illegally carried out a stabbing attack, severely wounding an Israeli civilian. Israeli security forces exposed a Hamas network in Hebron whose operatives planned to carry out various types of terrorist attacks, including suicide bombing attacks In the Abu Tor neighborhood of east Jerusalem an extensive "popular resistance" (i.e., popular terrorism) network was exposed. Its operatives threw Molotov cocktails and stones at Israeli security forces and Jewish Israeli civilians living in the neighborhood.

This week, there were no significant changes in the various combat zones in Iraq and Syria. YPG’s Kurdish forces continue to repel ISIS from the rural area of Kobani. Turkey evacuated a Turkish enclave in Syrian territory located about 35 km south of the Turkish-Syrian border. ISIS, which is establishing its presence in Libya, used social networks for recruiting foreign fighters to fight in the ranks of the organization in Libya.

Global Jihad

This week, there were no significant changes in the various combat zones in Iraq and Syria. YPG’s Kurdish forces continue to repel ISIS from the rural area of Kobani. Turkey evacuated a Turkish enclave in Syrian territory located about 35 km south of the Turkish-Syrian border. ISIS, which is establishing its presence in Libya, used social networks for recruiting foreign fighters to fight in the ranks of the organization in Libya.

The main events this past week were the shooting attacks in Copenhagen, carried out by the same terrorist. In Libya ISIS continues to strengthen its foothold. In a showcase massacre in the "Tripoli province" of the Islamic State in Libya, 21 Egyptian Coptic immigrant workers were abducted and beheaded on a beach. In Syria and Iraq there were no significant new developments. In Syria ISIS, under pressure from the Kurds, continues its retreat from the rural area around Kobanî; in Iraq it had local successes in the regions around Samara and in the Al-Anbar province.

Following the murder of the Jordanian pilot, the Royal Jordanian Air Force carried out intensive airstrikes against ISIS targets in both Syria and Iraq (up to now, the Jordanians have only carried out airstrikes in Syria). ISIS claimed that one of the Jordanian airstrikes killed a female American aid worker who was in its hands. The White House confirmed that she was killed, but there is no reliable information about the date and circumstances of her death.

Israel's south remains quiet. In Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem violence and terrorism continue in the so-called "popular resistance." This past week terrorist operatives of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) held training exercises which included simulations of taking over an IDF post and abducting an IDF soldier. This past week Mahmoud Abbas issued an edict establishing a high national committee to monitor PA appeals to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, chaired by Saeb Erekat.

On January 30, 2015, ISIS issued a video in which it admitted, for the first time, that its fighters had retreated from Kobanî (Ayn al-Arab) in northern Syria, and that control of the city had been retaken by the Kurdish forces. Two operatives who fought in Kobanî admitted that ISIS forces had retreated from the city. They claimed (for propaganda reasons) it was not a defeat in the campaign but rather a retreat carried out because of the coalition force airstrikes (Aamaq News Agency, January 31, 2015).

The main event of the week was a series of combined attacks against Egyptian targets in Al-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah in northern Sinai. Around 30 soldiers and civilians were killed and a few dozen were wounded. The terrorist attacks were carried out by Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the ISIS branch in the Sinai Peninsula.